While many Coloradoans rang in the new year by lining up outside marijuana dispensaries for a celebratory toke, some rehab centers are prepping for an increase of marijuana-addicted patients in 2014, especially teenage users.
Although only people over the age of 21 are allowed to buy marijuana, psychiatrists and others remain concerned that teens could be most at risk for becoming addicted.
Dr. Christian Thurstone, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado and the head of the teen rehab center Adolescent STEP: Substance Abuse Treatment Education & Prevention Program, said 95 percent of patient referrals to the program are for marijuana use.
After the law legalizing marijuana in Colorado passed in November, he started applying for a series of grants to expand his staff. He now has doubled his staff and still has a waiting list of patients.
Teenage Marijuana Use May Hurt IQ
Thurston said after medical marijuana was legalized in the state in 2009, adolescents started to report that theyre using much higher potency products, such as solid forms of synthetic marijuana called waxes, which can be up to 50 or 60 percent THC.
Our kids are presenting more severe addictions; it takes them longer to get a clean urine drug screen, said Thurstone.
In addition, Thurstone said using the highly potent marijuana makes some teens more likely to suffer psychotic episodes or breakdowns. Contrary to the common image of marijuanas being a calming drug, Thurstone said THC is a stimulant and too much can mean a rise in anxiety or paranoia. In very rare cases the drug can overwhelm the user and he or she can have a psychotic breakdown.
Anecdotally, yes, were seeing kids in treatment here who have paranoia and seeing things and hearing things that arent there, said Thurstone. Adolescent exposure to marijuana [raises] risk of permanent psychosis in adulthood.
Ben Court, an addictions expert at the University of Colorado Hospital Center for Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation (CeDAR), said ever since medical marijuana became legal in Colorado in 2009 hes seen an increase in patients coming for treatment for marijuana addiction.
For the person on shaky ground, you add this to the equation and its gas on the fire, Court said of people already predisposed to mental illness using highly-potent marijuana.
According to Thurstone, 80 percent of adolescents in treatment for substance addiction also have an underlying mental problems from the mental disorder attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to bipolar disorder to schizophrenia.
Colo. Teen Addiction Centers Gear Up for Legal Pot - ABC News
Although only people over the age of 21 are allowed to buy marijuana, psychiatrists and others remain concerned that teens could be most at risk for becoming addicted.
Dr. Christian Thurstone, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado and the head of the teen rehab center Adolescent STEP: Substance Abuse Treatment Education & Prevention Program, said 95 percent of patient referrals to the program are for marijuana use.
After the law legalizing marijuana in Colorado passed in November, he started applying for a series of grants to expand his staff. He now has doubled his staff and still has a waiting list of patients.
Teenage Marijuana Use May Hurt IQ
Thurston said after medical marijuana was legalized in the state in 2009, adolescents started to report that theyre using much higher potency products, such as solid forms of synthetic marijuana called waxes, which can be up to 50 or 60 percent THC.
Our kids are presenting more severe addictions; it takes them longer to get a clean urine drug screen, said Thurstone.
In addition, Thurstone said using the highly potent marijuana makes some teens more likely to suffer psychotic episodes or breakdowns. Contrary to the common image of marijuanas being a calming drug, Thurstone said THC is a stimulant and too much can mean a rise in anxiety or paranoia. In very rare cases the drug can overwhelm the user and he or she can have a psychotic breakdown.
Anecdotally, yes, were seeing kids in treatment here who have paranoia and seeing things and hearing things that arent there, said Thurstone. Adolescent exposure to marijuana [raises] risk of permanent psychosis in adulthood.
Ben Court, an addictions expert at the University of Colorado Hospital Center for Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation (CeDAR), said ever since medical marijuana became legal in Colorado in 2009 hes seen an increase in patients coming for treatment for marijuana addiction.
For the person on shaky ground, you add this to the equation and its gas on the fire, Court said of people already predisposed to mental illness using highly-potent marijuana.
According to Thurstone, 80 percent of adolescents in treatment for substance addiction also have an underlying mental problems from the mental disorder attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to bipolar disorder to schizophrenia.
Colo. Teen Addiction Centers Gear Up for Legal Pot - ABC News
